Period:Ming dynasty Production date:15thC (?)
Materials:silk
Technique:painted
Subjects:arhat
Dimensions:Height: 170.500 centimetres (image) Height: 301.50 centimetres (scroll) Width: 88 centimetres (image) Width: 117 centimetres (scroll)
Description:
Hanging scroll, painting. Four lohan and two attendants (in buff robes). At the lower left are two Indian tribute bearers, wearing rich brocaded robes and holding a ‘hu’ ceremonial sceptre and a model of a mountain; they are dwarfed by the ‘lohan’, in Chinese monastic clothes. The setting, a bamboo grove on a mountain slope, is painted with the clear outlines and hard-edged strokes. Ink and colour on silk.
IMG
![图片[1]-hanging scroll; painting BM-1983-0705-0.2-China Archive](https://chinaarchive.net/Ming dynasty/Paintings/mid_00031734_001.jpg)
![图片[2]-hanging scroll; painting BM-1983-0705-0.2-China Archive](https://chinaarchive.net/Ming dynasty/Paintings/mid_00508074_001.jpg)
Comments:1. Zwalf 1985Of the sixteen or eighteen ‘lohan (arhats)’ usually shown together in Chinese paintings this scroll has only four, with two attendants (in buff robes), suggesting that it may have been one of a set of four such paintings. At the lower left are two tribute bearers, apparently Indians, wearing rich brocaded robes and holding a ‘hu’ ceremonial sceptre and a model of a mountain; they are dwarfed by the ‘lohan’, in Chinese monastic clothes. The setting, a bamboo grove on a mountain slope, is painted with the clear outlines and hard-edged strokes of the Zhejiang ‘Zhe’ school of landscape painting. Zhejiang had been a centre of Buddhist painting since the Song dynasty, and much of its output emanated from Ningbo from where it was taken to Japan.2. Farrer 1990, cat. 46″This fine painting shows four arhats who are the four central figures in Chinese clothes, identified by the nimbus around their heads. They are accompanied by four attendants: two of these in the bottom left hand corner are Indian and hold a hu ceremonial sceptre and a model of a mountain. The other two attendants to the left and right of the upper figure group are Chinese. The portrayal of the four arhats suggests that this painting may have belonged to a series of four in which the entire group of sixteen arhats were portrayed. The setting for the figures provides a clue to the date and place of origin of the painting. The broad outline used for the foreground and middle ground rocks, the ink wash, and the axe-cut texture strokes seen on the lower rock point to the academic styles revived by artists from Zhejiang province in the fifteenth century. This painting, like the previous work, may have been painted at Ningbo.”
Materials:silk
Technique:painted
Subjects:arhat
Dimensions:Height: 170.500 centimetres (image) Height: 301.50 centimetres (scroll) Width: 88 centimetres (image) Width: 117 centimetres (scroll)
Description:
Hanging scroll, painting. Four lohan and two attendants (in buff robes). At the lower left are two Indian tribute bearers, wearing rich brocaded robes and holding a ‘hu’ ceremonial sceptre and a model of a mountain; they are dwarfed by the ‘lohan’, in Chinese monastic clothes. The setting, a bamboo grove on a mountain slope, is painted with the clear outlines and hard-edged strokes. Ink and colour on silk.
IMG
Comments:1. Zwalf 1985Of the sixteen or eighteen ‘lohan (arhats)’ usually shown together in Chinese paintings this scroll has only four, with two attendants (in buff robes), suggesting that it may have been one of a set of four such paintings. At the lower left are two tribute bearers, apparently Indians, wearing rich brocaded robes and holding a ‘hu’ ceremonial sceptre and a model of a mountain; they are dwarfed by the ‘lohan’, in Chinese monastic clothes. The setting, a bamboo grove on a mountain slope, is painted with the clear outlines and hard-edged strokes of the Zhejiang ‘Zhe’ school of landscape painting. Zhejiang had been a centre of Buddhist painting since the Song dynasty, and much of its output emanated from Ningbo from where it was taken to Japan.2. Farrer 1990, cat. 46″This fine painting shows four arhats who are the four central figures in Chinese clothes, identified by the nimbus around their heads. They are accompanied by four attendants: two of these in the bottom left hand corner are Indian and hold a hu ceremonial sceptre and a model of a mountain. The other two attendants to the left and right of the upper figure group are Chinese. The portrayal of the four arhats suggests that this painting may have belonged to a series of four in which the entire group of sixteen arhats were portrayed. The setting for the figures provides a clue to the date and place of origin of the painting. The broad outline used for the foreground and middle ground rocks, the ink wash, and the axe-cut texture strokes seen on the lower rock point to the academic styles revived by artists from Zhejiang province in the fifteenth century. This painting, like the previous work, may have been painted at Ningbo.”
© Copyright
The copyright of the article belongs to the author, please keep the original link for reprinting.
THE END
![[Qing Dynasty] British female painter—Elizabeth Keith, using woodblock prints to record China from the late Qing Dynasty to the early Republic of China—1915-China Archive](https://chinaarchive.net/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/image-191x300.png)
